Most Americans are getting better at avoiding a financial mistake that can be highly costly – tapping into their retirement funds to fund an emergency. However, Millennials by far have Baby Boomers beat in this. The percentage of those who used retirement money to pay for an expense that was unexpected over the last year dropped from 19% during 2011 to a current 13%, revealed a new Bankrate.com survey. However, that figure still means more than 30 million Americans tapped their retirement funds. However, the figures grow the closer the people are to being retired. The survey indicated that 17% of those aged 50 to 64 used retirement funds over the past year to cover a financial problem. This is worse as they are in their final years before retiring. An analyst who works with funds on Wall Street for retirees said that using retirement savings in order to cover something that came up is a setback that is permanent to their retirement planning. He warned that using the retirement money early could lead to a hit on their taxes and penalties for early withdrawal if the person has not reached the age of 59. The biggest reason behind the problem is people are not financially prepared for emergencies. Twenty-five percent of Americans lack a bona fide emergency fund. On top of that, people need to become more disciplined in putting part of their income into accounts that are designated for any emergency. The figure needed in those funds is usually the amount large enough to cover six months worth of living expenses. Many financial advisors know that one thing that jeopardizes many retirement savings is medical bills, which could be helped if a long term plans such as a life insurance policy were purchased. Other analysts insist that workers should always put between 5% and 10% in a saving account and keep doing that each and every paycheck. Unfortunately, they say very few people are disciplined enough to do that. One survey showed that in 2011, 7% of Americans were not preparing at all for retirement and that figure has increased to 9%...

While many investors were waiting to see if the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in the last month or so, more negative news coming out of China is adding doubt to investors about slowing global economic growth and sending the stock market markedly lower in early trading. The Federal Reserve decided last week not to raise interest rates at this time citing a precarious position of the economy. “The Fed’s decision not to hike last week did not get the positive reaction in the markets that we may ordinarily have expected, which suggests that aside from being priced in, there may now be a willingness for the Fed to just get it out of the way,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note Tuesday. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Monday a rate hike later this year was still possible. Furthermore stocks have taken a hit because of falling commodity prices, namely an oil and copper. Copper prices hit two-week lows, while oil was down about 2 percent. The S&P 500 index slid 25 points, or 1.3%, to 1,941 with all 10 main sectors trading lower. Materials and technology stocks were leading losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 190 points, or 1.2%, to 16,283, as all of the blue-chip companies on the index traded lower. The Nasdaq Composite lost 67 points, or 1.4%, at 4,761. At 11:45 AM the Dow Jones Industrials are down 1.68% or 277. the S&P 500 is down 1.72% or 33.74. Crude oil is down...

Stewart Parnell, the former owner of the Peanut Corporation of America, is scheduled to be sentenced today for his role in a salmonella outbreak that started in 2008. According to health officials, the outbreak killed nine people and sickened 714 people in 46 states. The sentencing is being conducted Judge W. Louis Sands in U.S. District Court in Albany, Georgia. Peanut Corporation of America was identified as the source of a massive salmonella outbreak...

Consumer Reports has pulled the ratings for some Volkswagen vehicles from its results after an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency found that the company was intentionally misleading about the vehicle’s emissions. The EPA found that Volkswagen deliberately acted to evade the Clean Air Law by installing software on its vehicles designed to fool emission testing trials. It is estimated that 482,000 diesel cars under the Volkswagen and Audi names are affected in the...